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Lutherie - the making of guitars

New Substack - Building a Guitar Without Instructions

Wilson Burnham Guitars - Sun, 05/03/2026 - 12:17

Check out my latest Substack post!

New steel string acoustic guitars in progress, will be available for sale by the beginning of summer!

Stayed tuned for updates!








Categories: General Interest, Lutherie - the making of guitars

New Videos On My YouTube Channel!

Wilson Burnham Guitars - Thu, 04/30/2026 - 14:39

Hi, Everyone!

I just added two new shorts to my YouTube Channel, that feature the wonderful guitarist, Juri Yun. 

I attended the 2025 Denver Guitar Festival as a vendor and Mr. Yun stopped by my table to try out the guitars I brought to the festival and he was very impressed with my work!

Go to my YouTube Channel page on this blog to see videos of other great guitarists playing my guitars!



Categories: General Interest, Lutherie - the making of guitars

My Latest eBay Listing - A Vintage Stanley No.7 Jointer Plane

Wilson Burnham Guitars - Wed, 04/15/2026 - 12:52
I am selling my Stanley No. 7 jointer plane, “Made in England”,  with it’s original chip breaker and iron, and I am including a Hock Tools 01 carbon steel iron and chip breaker to use with the plane. I originally purchased this plane from Garret Wade in 1994, it came with a plastic tote and knob that I replaced with, at the time, a new rosewood knob and tote, also purchased from Garrett Wade. This plane is in excellent condition, still has some of the original factory grind marks on the sole and the sides, 99% plus of the original japanning on the body. The knob and tote are in great shape, though the original lacquer finish has cracked giving the rosewood a vintage look.









I used this plane on a regular basis in my guitar shop for jointing guitar tops and back plates after I tuned it up and it performed flawlessly for me. Yes, this plane was “Made in England”, but it is a superb user tool! 

Here are some of my posts that feature this plane:




Good luck on your bidding!

For those of you who are new to my website, here is a little more information about a jointer plane:

Stanley No. 7 Bench Plane, widely known as the Jointer Plane, is one of the most important tools in traditional hand-tool woodworking. Designed for edge-jointing, flattening large panels, and truing long surfaces, the No. 7 is an indispensable plane for furniture makers, joiners, and serious hand-tool enthusiasts.

At 22 inches long with a 2⅜-inch iron, the No. 7’s length allows it to bridge high spots and shave down low spots, producing dead-flat edges ready for gluing. Its precision, weight, and stability make it ideal for preparing long edges and wide panels.
Categories: General Interest, Lutherie - the making of guitars

New Substack Post - Flattening Boards by Hand

Wilson Burnham Guitars - Fri, 03/06/2026 - 10:27

Hi, Everyone!

Check out my latest Substack post!

Stay tuned to this blog! I plan on updating the layout a bit and talk about some new woodworking ideas!









Categories: General Interest, Lutherie - the making of guitars

Double Top Classical Guitar For Sale: Engelmann Spruce/Wenge, Made in New Mexico! Plus a Video of this Guitar!

Wilson Burnham Guitars - Sat, 02/21/2026 - 14:21

2025 Wilson Burnham Engelmann Spruce/Wenge double top classical guitar with an elevated fretboard. 

Ebony fretboard, East Indian rosewood bridge with MOP tie block cover, Manuel Ramirez style rosette.

Back and sides are laminated with curly Spanish cedar.

650mm string length

52mm wide at nut, 58mm string spacing at bridge. Please scroll down the page for more photos of this stunning guitar!

Regular price was $8000, price reduced to $4000! I am moving to a new studio and I want to liquidate my current stock of guitars!

For more specifications on this guitar, please click here!



Watch Juri Yun play this guitar! Please visit my YouTube channel, @wilsonburnhamguitars8563

"Wilson's guitars are outstanding! They have incredible voices and are easy to play! They are easy to play because the treble strings are there, they are present and you can hear them above the bass strings! You don't have to work hard to make these guitars sing!"

Nathan Fischer, president of the New York City Classical Guitar Society








Elevated fretboard gives you easier access to the upper frets.

The honeycomb Nomex in this double top guitar is cover with a veneer of old growth redwood to enhance the guitar's voice.

The sides are attached to the top with blocks of ebony, these ebony blocks make the guitar louder in sound!

Laminating the wenge back and sides with curly Spanish cedar stiffen the guitar to increase the volume and beauty of the guitar's voice. The sound of this guitar reaches out to the hearts' of your audience to bring them to you and the music you are playing!




Categories: General Interest, Lutherie - the making of guitars

Holdfasts, Every Woodworker Should Own a Set!

Wilson Burnham Guitars - Thu, 02/12/2026 - 11:00

It is often a great help to have some means of holding work tightly down on the bench, leaving both hands free to hold the tool, etc. Workers soon discover for themselves little dodges by which this means may be effected, but the regulation appliance is the holdfast...

Bernard E. Jones, The Complete Woodworker, 1917



I bought my first pair of holdfasts in 1994 at the Woodcraft Store franchise in Denver, Colorado. A friend and I drove down from Estes Park to check out the tools and to buy some wood. I remember that I bought these holdfasts and a Mora carving knife, there may have been more tools in the shopping bag, I didn't have much money at the time. 


I built the workbench in the photo that fall of 1994, the bench has been remodeled several times, but the hook or crochet on the bench has seen heavy use over the years with the help of those Woodcraft holdfasts. I understand that there were some furniture makers back in the 1990's and early 2000's that would hit these holdfasts so hard the holdfasts would break!  These hunks of metal had a bad reputation among woodworkers who wrote articles for the glitzy woodworking magazines back then. 


 

These holdfasts have served me well of the last 32 years, I used them a lot when I re-sawed guitar sets by hand with a rip saw, they have never failed me. I do own a pair of Gramercy Tools holdfasts, I use them to clamp down a miter box I use for cutting kerfing strips of guitars, but I reach for and use those old holdfasts on a regular basis.

I don't know if anyone uses holdfasts anymore, I understand that today large power tools and CNC machines are the must have for woodworkers.

Time for me to get back in the shop and work.
Categories: General Interest, Lutherie - the making of guitars

Did Unplugged Shop “Unplug” Me From Their Aggregator?

Wilson Burnham Guitars - Wed, 02/04/2026 - 06:30

I started this blog in 2007 to share and talk about my woodworking and guitar making. I am very grateful that my blog has been on the two best woodworking aggregators: Norse Woodsmith and Unplugged Shop. Thanks to them the word got about my work.

The other day, I noticed that Unplugged Shop didn’t share my last post and took down the previous post on their website.  Since this happened I have noticed that the number of visitors to my website are down. I  submitted a request to have my website appear on their aggregator, I haven’t heard back from them. 

I wonder if the AI robot that assists their website doesn’t consider a guitar maker to be a “woodworker”? Is it because I don’t make stick chairs or turn bowls anymore? And that I don’t post much “how to” about guitar making? I’m a little baffled by Unplugged Shop’s action.

I hope that norsewoodsmith.com continues to share my and other woodworkers blog posts, I am very grateful for that old school aggregator. Thanks!

Categories: General Interest, Lutherie - the making of guitars

Guitar Fretboards and Fret Saws, a new Substack Post

Wilson Burnham Guitars - Sat, 01/24/2026 - 13:56

Hi, Everyone!

I have a new Substack post! Check it out!









Categories: General Interest, Lutherie - the making of guitars

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